What goes around, comes around?
by DarkLord98
Summary: What could be worse than dying? Being brought back to life by a virus that makes you into a monster that needs to eat humans to survive. But, on the upside, you could be lucky enough to end up on perhaps the only world of anime where the people are so corrupt that you won't mind eating a few of them. Rated T for implications of technical "cannibalism".
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi guys! Remember the story I talked about in CH 1 of East Blue Files? Well, here it is. And man, designing the Atma Avatar was a bitch and a half! The easy part was designing the brand and the torso, but then I was thinking whether or not I should pick a name for it, like it is in the games. I did, at first, I looked at a list of different Asura's in hinduism, no luck. and for a while I was debating whether or not I should keep trying to pick a name, but in the end, I did find a name for the form that wasn't hard to pronounce and of a demon I like.  
**

 **EDIT: I fixed a mistake I had with the Mantra's.**

 **Also, have any of you noticed that none of the Asura forms have any eyes?**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **"Demon speaking"**

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Digital Devil Saga 1 &2 by Atlus or Akame Ga Kill by Takahiro and Square Enix**(that surprised me a bit) **. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

 _"Let me tell you something, dying sucks, especially if it's just from something as pathetic as slipping in the shower. But it was definitely better than what came next..."_

* * *

Edward Smith was never the one to believe in religion, or in afterlife. Sure, he enjoyed media that tackled the subject of an life beyond death, with varying results... and on occasions, he might've prayed for a crit or rare loot while playing a RPG, but those were more along the lines of RNG being good. So, when he died, he didn't really expect much. Especially not a info screen floating in front of him with a game over theme coming from all around him

 **[Game Over.]**

 **[Would you like to start a new game?]**

 **[Yes?] [No?]**

And of course, Edward pressed yes, because why wouldn't he? What sort of person would want to die, aside from depressed people and the insane ones? He wouldn't care what he would be reborn as, as long as he'll be in a human, or human-like body. A woman? Well, it'll be a new experience. A baby? Sure, why not. Skin color wouldn't matter, it would at least beat being dead.

Although, considering what kind of person he was in life, not caring about others, or doing anything that wouldn't benefit him more, or wasn't too tedious, he wasn't so sure about ending in a good position in his next life.

After making his choice, the music stopped playing as the screen disappeared. Before he could question whether or not a new one would appear, a roulette wheel appeared in a flash of light, numerous different animated, written and video game medias in each slot of the roulette.

But before he could exclaim his dis-content on the rather random way to select where he would be sent, the cursor started to spin, similar to one of the raffle wheels Edward had spun in his childhood at a fair. Hopefully his luck has improved.

 **[Selecting a world, please hold...]**

"Please don't land SNK, TG, or a show I don't know through and through." Edward whispers in hopes that the cursor stops on a world familiar to him. Hopefully a world where powers are handed out like candy, but he should be fine if he just knew what would happen in the immediate future.

Edward looks at the wheel, as the cursor slows down, eventually coming to a stop. Looking at the slot it stopped on, he sees it holds the emblem of a red cross, tilted to look like a over-symbolized X, but after a bit of thinking he comes to the haunting realization of what world he will have to inhabit, his jaw hanging low as he looks at the red sword.

 **[World selected: Akame Ga Kill]**

"Of ALL the possible things, I'll be sent to Akame Ga fucking Kill!" He shouts out to the void in anger and frustration as he laments his situation. Not only is he going to be sent to a Anime/Manga world, but it's one of the worst possible ones he could end up in. A kingdom that's nothing more than a pit of snakes, that allows the rich and those in service of the government to get away with the most inhumane things possible.

Raping and killing a small child, allowing people to get abducted off the street to get tortured and poisoned with viruses for the pettiest reasons like a commoner having prettier hair than the rich girl. And killing hundreds of people to blame a group that had nothing to do with the killing. Inhuman experiments that modify a person's body that leave the one operated as nothing more than a slave that looks like it's out of a fetish film.

Honestly, in comparison the local wildlife is more civilized than the actual civilization.

But, it could be worse. He could just as easily ended up in Attack on Titan or Berserk, where death is all but guaranteed, not that Akame Ga Kill is any better in that regard. He'd just have to make the most out of his situation. Who knows, maybe he'd end up in a time period where the Empire isn't a corrupted, self-righteous pile of shit. And if he doesn't, maybe he could join up with the Revolutionary army. And if these screens that have been appearing are any indication, he's acquired the Gamer, so becoming strong shouldn't be too hard.

The roulette wheel disappears, replaced by a metal egg the size of a milk carton, a neon green glow pulsing across its surface in a fishnet pattern as it floats in the void. Before Edward can observe it any further, a info screen appears in front of him, blocking his view of the egg.

 **[Please stand by for the Atma Infection and transportation]**

"Wait, what was the first one?" Edward doesn't receive an answer as the metal egg explodes, a beam of light shooting itself into his torso, passing through him as his body breaks down into balls of light that disappear.

* * *

A group of men walk in the woods, armed with the best hunting gear money could buy, well the best a duo of ex-low-rank soldiers with their hunting buddies could buy at least. They had been returning from a basic mission that had them getting rid off a den of dire wolves that were messing up a town, set up camp and then all of a sudden, a light shot out from the sky, falling near their camp, accompanied by a loud crash. They left a few of their men to guard the camp, while the rest of them decided to investigate the forest where the light shot at.

"What do you think that flash of light was?" Stan, one of their newer members, armed with a short sword and a shield, pretty skilled with both of them. He had joined their little band of mercenaries for the thrill of the fight.

"I don't know, could be anything from a falling star to one of Empire's experiments." Brad, one of the more experienced ones of their fellows with a bit of history as a capital guard, but got kicked out as things started getting tougher. He wasn't anything too special, but he managed to handle himself well enough with his broadsword. He was the impromptu leader of their group.

"Maybe it'll be some lost treasure that'll make us rich." Jeffrey says with glee, already imagining a swimming pool full of gold coins that he'll swim through. He had been working in the same area as Brad before they both got kicked out for budget cuts. But unlike

"Hah, keep dreaming Jeff." O'Malley laughs at his greedy hunting pal.

"Shut it you two, we're approaching the crash site." David, their resident cold strategist speaks up with his monotone voice as they approach a crater left by whatever fell from the sky, evident by the toppled trees, scattered debris lying around and the impact crater, smoke billowing from it. Honestly, it looks like a bomb went off.

"Jeez, are you even sure that whatever's in there is still intact?" Jeffrey pointedly asks, looking down into the crater, trying to see if there's anything there. Even if it was a shooting star, any minerals it might've contained are probably nothing but pebbles after that impact.

"Stop your whining and go investigate." Brad barks, pushing Jeffrey into the crater, who tumbles down a couple of feet before landing face-first onto the ground. He was the one who came to inspect the crater in search of valuables, so if he wanted the profit, he should go and find it himself.

"What the hell you asshole! I could've gotten hurt!" Jeff shouts, waving his fist angrily as. This asshole always did stuff like this, pushing him into danger. When they caught a robber, they could've just taken his loot, but nooooo, we shouldn't look out for ourselves, we should just bend over backwards and return the goods to their "rightful" owners.

Didn't that dumbass realize that things are tough, and you either look out for number one or get killed? Survival of the fittest and all that jazz.

"Well, you didn't so stop complaining and start searching for what fell here." Brad orders, Jeff grumbling at him as he starts investigating the crater. Honestly, why does Jeff always look to make more profit than what's necessary? Stealing evidence from closed cases and pawning them off, taking bribes to overlook some of the lesser crimes. That is not to say that he always did overlook some of the more heinous crimes, but he did take the money. But, since Jeff did help him out during basic training, so Brad tried his best to keep him out of trouble, with varying results.

But eventually, as the economy hit a certain point in it's dive, the amount of soldiers had to be cut, and the two of them were in the front of the line when it came to people who had to be fired, Brad for being a avid follower of the rules, mostly the moral ones, reporting and objecting when Captain Ogre arrested someone for something that they couldn't have done, and Jeff got fired for being too greedy.

"Umm, Brad, you might want to take a look at this." Jeff calls out from the crater, the smoke covering what both him and his discovery.

"What is it?"Brad asks. He wasn't about to go there just so that Jeff could gloat straight to his face, standing before a mountain of gold.

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Jeff calls out, looking at the thing he found with a look of disbelief on his face. To be honest, he's not even sure if what he's seeing is real, or even alive. How could something like that survive a fall like that? Heck, better question is, how did something like that fall from the sky?

"Fine, I'm coming down there. David, O'Malley, keep a look out." Brad orders before he slides down the crater's slope, reaching the bottom much smoother than his comrade did. Some bandits or Danger Beasts might've heard the crash, so they should just investigate the crater and then get away from here.

"So, what is it that you foun-" Brad cuts his sentence short as he sees what Jeff found. It wasn't a meteorite, or any precious jewel, but a person. A male human about 17 or so, wearing some kind of weird grey uniform with orange highlights, armor covering the chest, shoulders and the fore arms. How the fuck did a person end at the bottom of a crater? He couldn't have been the shooting star, he would've been nothing but a wet splat on the ground.

"Well Jeff, I can see why you'd think that I wouldn't believe you."

"Thanks, but take a look at this." Brad complies, looking at the weird black marking on the unconscious persons neck that Jeff was pointing to. A skull of a Danger Beast of some kind. Well, it's obvious that the unconscious guy isn't a free man.

"The kid's a slave huh, how much do you think his owners will pay for him?" Jeffrey asks, stroking the small goatee on his chin as he observes the unconscious slave in front of them. Neither the armor or the brand looked familiar, but the Capital might pay good money for him. That's not to say that they will return the lad to his owner.

"Jeff, he's a person, not some pet." Brad argues, glaring at his old acquaintance. If there was one law he was willing to disobey, it was returning slaves to their masters. A man shouldn't be owned, but free to make their own decisions. He'd even be willing to deal with the consequences of harboring a escaped slave, granted that they aren't bad people of course. Besides, the armor and Brand suggest at a combat history, so he wouldn't weigh them down.

"Look, this isn't a stray orphan that you can pick up like the other ones, this slave belongs to someone, and judging by the armor, he's probably a part of the Empires little assassin groups, so let's leave the dog to rot." Jeff fires back. He had heard rumors of the about the Empires Assassins and about how they're trained and branded from the higher-ups when they were drunk.

He had also heard about how some of them are granted some sort of special weapon, like one of those Teigu that the first Emperor made. And as tempting stealing one of those bad boys was, that would be a _very_ bad idea, mainly because the Empire would not stop hounding his ass until they reclaimed it.

"Well if he was, then why was he in this crater?" As the two men argue over morality, the unconscious teen rises up, his half-opened green eyes looking straight ahead, not even focusing on the two men, only on the gnawing hunger in his stomach.

* * *

 _ **'**_ ** _Rend!_** _ **'**_ It's driving him insane, the hunger whispering in one ear, and shouting in the other. He could practically see them, a legion of small imps on his right shoulder shouting and a singular large one whispering on his left one.

 ** _'Slaughter!'_** He wants, nay needs something to fill it, but there's no food here, just two men arguing about something. But wait, they're wearing the same kind of armor that the Imperial soldiers do!

 _ **'Devour your enemies! There is no other way to survive!'**_ There's no way in hell he's going to get captured by those sick fuckers! But he doesn't have a weapon, how's he going to kil- _ **devour**_ them? But before the teen can plan any further, he feels a painful throbbing on the left side of his neck, and although he might not see it, maroon lines spread out from the mark, covering his skin and clothes which darken as the lines spread out, eventually covering his whole body as they glow brightly.

The two men stop arguing as they notice that the one they were talking about is up and his brand is glowing?

"Wow, what the hell!?" Jeff exclaims in alert, drawing his sword. The kid's still alive, and why's his brand glowing like that?

The teen grunts in discomfort as his whole body structure is changing, bones, flesh and muscles becoming denser, more powerful and remolding themselves into a more dangerous form. As the light fades away, his new form is revealed. And it's far from human.

The grey armor covering the teens upper body now replaced with segmented bone armor, extending to the arms and hands, protected by gauntlets with blades on their sides, and the bone plate on the back of the hands. Normal human legs transformed to bestial double jointed ones with three clawed toes, more of the segmented bone armor covering the thighs. Strangely enough, the bone armor doesn't cover the abdomen or underside of the arms. the head of the boy, if he could even be called that, is covered by more of that segmented bone armor, making it appear that he's blind, but that doesn't make it any less dangerous.

 **"So hungry..."** the transformed human grumbles, his voice clear even through the bone armor. Everything seems so clear now, as he looks around, he spots a two turtles, hiding in their metal shells, covering that supple, and tender meat under those sacks of flesh, cloth and armor. They'd do well in quenching his hunger, but how should he peel away the packaging?

Sure he could he use his sharp claws to rip, tear and tenderize the meat, but he isn't a unsophisticated animal, using tools is the proper way of conduct.

"What the fu-" Jeffrey is cut off by the teen?, who punches him, as the elbow blade slides forward, piercing Jeffrey's throat. Withdrawing the blade from the dead man's throat, the monster inspects the blood coating the blade, sniffing at it, before it licks it, as if tasting the leftover cookie dough.

The blood seems to be to its liking, evident by a sinister grin spreading across the monsters face as it shivers in delight. This is exactly what's missing, it could already feel the hunger dying down, but it's not enough, it needs more! MORE! **MORE!**

Snapping out of shock, Brad charges the monster that killed his friend, sword drawn out, which he swings at the monster with a mighty war cry. Whatever this monster is, it can't be allowed to leave this forest alive, lest it feasts upon innocent civilians. The beasts abdomen is exposed, so that's where he'll strike.

The monster points its hand at the charging man hellbent on avenging his friend. **"Fry for me, 'Zio'."** It smirks, as lightning surges from its bone-coated fingers, hitting the vengeful man in the chest, his metal armor only serving to increase his pain, as the electricity arcs across his armor. After a while, the monster stops electrocuting him, and judging by its arm blades, it's planning to put the man in front of it out of his misery.

Brad closes his eyes, resigned to his fate. There's nothing he can do, his nervous system is out of whack from all the electricity, and he's dead-tired. He can only pray that his men can get as far away from here as possible. The monster looks at the defeated man in front of it for a while, wondering why isn't he trying to escape, but then it shrugs, and slashes down with its arm blades, killing the man.

It then proceeds to peel away the armor the two men were wearing, before it starts feasting on their corpses, feeling its hunger receding with each bite, savoring the texture of the meat, the exquisite flavor of their blood. It leaves the groin areas of the men untouched, something deep in the being feeling repulsed at the idea of eating male genitals. Licking its lips and fingertips for some leftover, it still doesn't feel full, but more like it's almost there.

But where would it find more bipedal turtles?

Maybe it should have let one of them run so that one could lead it to his pack? Oh well, no use in crying over spilled milk. Actually, now that the monster thinks back, it did smell two other turtles, but they started running when he killed first one. The monster smirks, jumping out of the crater, taking off towards the direction where the scents went.

* * *

"Whatthehellwhatthehellwhatthehell! What the hell was that thing!?" Stan frantically asks, as him, O'Malley and David run through the forest in a hurry to reach the camp. When that demon suddenly appeared and killed Jeff, they thought that Brad could handle it, but then the demonic bastard started shooting lightning from its fingers, they started running, or "Making a tactical retreat" as David put it. None of them joined this Danger Beast-hunting group to fight some demon that fell from the sky, they joined to make an easy buck.

Sure, him and O'Malley could take down a D-Ranked Danger Beast, but Jeff and Brad were the real muscle of their team, capable of taking down high C-Ranks, while David made a plan that helped them to take down some of the B-ranked ones. But the only reason those plans worked was because the Danger Beasts they fought were ones that people had been dealing for centuries and there was info on ways to kill them.

But this... demon, cause what else could it be, there was nothing on it, so they don't know what else it can do besides shoot lightning out of its hands and that it had blades in its arms.

"I don't know man, just keep running!" O'Malley shouts. He had a bad feeling about this day, even with his lucky red shirt. And now there's a frickin' demon chasing after them. It's probably finished eating Brad and Jeff. He didn't want to be demon chowder!

Without warning, David pushes O'Malley and Stan to the side, as a ball of fire was flung at them. When he looked back, he saw the attack launched at them, and realizing that the only two combat-savvy members with him were the targets, he made the logical decision and took the hit. The attack wouldn't be fatal, but it would put him out of the fight, but if it had hit either Stan or O'Malley, their chances of survival would have fallen even lower than they are now.

"Shit! It's here!" Stan and O'Malley shout, doubling their efforts to escape. Their escape attempt is cut short as two bolts of lightning strike from the sky, setting the grass in front of them on fire, blocking their escape. The duo gulp, turning around to face the opposite direction, smelling the stench of blood.

 **"Tsk, tsk, tsk."** the monster chastises them, a smirk on its face as it wags it finger disapprovingly. These turtles didn't stand a chance, but it had been surprising when the calm turtle took the blow for the scared turtles, and amusing how the dumb turtles tried running, planning to leave the calm one behind. But now, there was no escape.

The two men panic, charging in with their weapons drawn. The monster dodges their frantic swipes, grinning as it does so. Then it extends both of its blades and the monster's laughter echoed through the night as it cut the hunters into pieces...

* * *

 **AN: That's the end folks! I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter(although, it's more like a prologue). There's a reason as to why I chose to cross put a S-I with a Atma into the Akame Ga Kill world, and if you've read East Blue Files, I think you might know what might happen...**

 **And I suppose I should tell what the Atma Avatar is, so here you go!:  
**

 **Asura: Yaksa  
Drain: Fire  
Resist: Elec  
Weak: Wind and Ice**

 **Skills:**

 **\- Zio** ** ** **{Set}  
**** \- Void Elec  
\- Agi** ** ** ** **{Set}  
****** \- Void Fire  
\- Ingest Mana** ** ** ** **{Set}  
****** \- Devour** ** ** **{Set}******

 **Mantra: Shura** ** ** **{25/100%}******

 ** ** **Now, some of you might be disagreeing with this set up, but, I do have my reasons. 1: Yaksa, in most SMT Games is shown to have a weakness for either Ice or Force, unaffected by fire attacks and having a resistance to electricity. 2: Have you seen what sort of monsters are in Akame Ga Kill universe? Danger Beasts, crazy demons in human flesh wielding weapons that could level a small town if they glared at it.******

 ** ** **And some of you might be disagreeing with the decision that I made, regarding Edward's Atma Avatar, but hear me out. Yaksa is a broad class of nature spirits, and there are multiple kinds of Yaksa, but Edward's Atma is based on the darker variation, a cannibalistic demon that haunts the wilderness and devours travelers, similar to Rakshasas.******

 ** ** **Also, don't worry about East Blue Files or Tower of Gamer, I'm working on them.******

 **And my Question of the chapter is:  
What Atma Avatars do you think Night Raid or the Jaegers would have? This is not to say that they _will_ have Atma Avatars, I just want to know what you guys think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hi guys! Here's the new chapter for What goes around, comes around? And HALLELUJA people, there's a Tower of God game! Granted, it doesn't look like it'll let you make your own character, but we have voice acting people! And on other news, Netflix is considering to revive Young Justice for a 3rd season, so go watch it and spread #renewyoungjustice. Anyway onto the chapter!**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **"Demon speaking"**

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Digital Devil Saga 1 &2 by Atlus or Akame Ga Kill by Takahiro and Square Enix**(that surprised me a bit) **. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

 **[You have rested on a patch of grass. HP and MP healed by 10%]**

"Ugh... what the hell happened?" Edward groans, massaging his temples to alleviate the throbbing pain pounding against the insides of his skull like a jackhammer. Nothing that aspirin wouldn't take care of.

"And what's that stench, it smells like something... died." He takes pause as he notices the half-eaten corpses around him, pools of blood underneath them, and grabs his head in pain as the memories from last night start coming back like a bad dream. The two imperial soldiers, the voice speaking in his mind, the hunger, the transformation, and finally, the subsequent killing/hunting spree.

"Oh shit." He whispers as the weight of his actions hit him in full. He had killed five people, people who probably had families. And although there was a good chance that they were some of the rotten apples from the even more rotten and dying tree called the empire, they were still people. And on top of that he ate their corpses, fucking played with them, like a cat plays with its prey!

 _'But on the other hand, they_ were _Imperial soldiers, so the chance of them being decent human beings were next to null'_ he argues to himself, trying to justify himself.

 _'And besides, I wasn't human when I ate them, so it isn't cannibalism.'_ he goes on, continuing the argument with the little voice in the back of his mind shouting at him in disgust.

 _'It was either me killing them, or them capturing me, and it ended with me standing.'_ He continues, trying to silence his conscience. If they had captured him, he would've probably ended up like Tatsumi's friends did, chained up in some rich aristocrat's torture chamber, numerous diseases injected into his body, hanging like a piece of meat from a hook. Or like those chicks from chapter 23.5 of the manga. Or even worse, they could've mistook his Atma for a Teigu, and tried extracting it from his body.

It's at that point that he reaches for his neck, feeling the texture of the Atma brand, signifying what he is now. A person capable of transforming into a demon, forced to eat people and other demons to avoid going berserk. A person forced to keep building a ever-growing mountain of corpses to attain power and maintain what little shred of sanity they would have left.

"Well, at least there's an abundance of monsters in human skin to choose from, Ha ha ha..." he groans at his poor attempt of a joke, coming to grips with his situation. He had multiple choices in front of him. He could try to join either the Revolution or the Empire, or he could wander around the empire, eating people when he felt hungry, trying to avoid getting involved with the plot.

If he did join the Empire, then he wouldn't be running out of people to eat, god knows how much the Imperial bastards love accusing the wrong people, but that would mean that Night Raid would sooner or later come after him, whether because of a job they took from civilians, or because of orders from their higher-ups.

But if he joined Night Raid, he would be fighting to take down a corrupt regime, controlled by a fat, sick, and downright vile demon in human skin, using a figurehead flesh-puppet to do whatever he wants to. But what about _after_ the revolutionary army had won? He would still need to eat people, and they obviously wouldn't let that happen, so they'd probably kill him.

So, it comes down to a pretty childish question: Which one do you want to play as? The cop? Or the robber? Honestly, he wasn't sure if there was a right answer to that question. Sure, he could join the empire, which would take cover his need to eat people, but he'd be fighting for a corrupt system, a system that allowed pedophilia, rape, torture and everything else that would get you a one-way ticket to hell. But if he joined Night Raid, he'd be fighting for a better world, but he'd probably be killed before he would even see that new world.

...Maybe the third option is the safest one for now. And it isn't that bad. He'd get to see new places, meet new people, try out the local cuisine... okay that was bad.

But, before he would decide any of that, he has to gain control of his Atma, and arm himself. He walks over to one of the unfinished cadavers, picking up a sword he remembers swatting away from the man's hands as he futilely tried to save himself from becoming dinner.

 **[Hunting sword{Equipped}]  
LV: Common  
DUR: 55/100%**

 **\- DMG +10  
\- DEX +15  
\- AGI +10**

 **A regular sword used when fighting low-rank Danger Beasts. There is nothing remarkable about this sword.**

"Huh, so I _do_ have Gamer on top of Atma, I guess that's good to know." he notes, shoving the sword into his **[Inventory]** before he proceeds to loot anything else the cadavers have to offer. He then decides to open his **[Status Window** ], to see his stats, and what he should work on.

In this world, the only thing that ensured your freedom was strength, and as sickening as it is, he would _need_ to continue eating people, both to avoid becoming fully demon, and to get access to stronger Mantra's.

 **[Status]**

 **/Human\  
Edward Smith LV: 2  
** **EXP: 25/200**

 **HP: 40{+20}  
MP: 100  
TP: 94**

 **STR: 9** ** **  
**INT: 27  
VIT: 10{+15}** ** ** **  
****WIS: 28  
DEX: 12{+15}  
AGI: 8{+25}**

 **Points: 3**

 **Mantra: Shura  
Atma points: 125/500**

 **Atma Avatar: Yaksa  
Class: Asura  
{Elemental resistances when in Atma form}**

 **Drain: Fire  
Resist: Elec{-50% Damage taken from Elec skills}  
Weak: Wind and Ice{+50% Damage taken from Wind and Ice skills}**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Atma Virus LV 2: You have been "infected" with an Atma Virus, which allows it's host to gain access to a demonic form called an Atma Avatar, but they need to consume Magnetite, to avoid being over-taken by their hunger.{Access to Demon-class skills. Transform permanently into Atma Avatar and reduce INT and WIS down to 1 if Atma points are not gained in 2 months.}**

As he looks at his stats, a few things become obvious to Edward. A few minor things, and a couple of major things, some of them good, some of them not so much.

1: The armour he's wearing increases his HP by 20, VIT by 15 and AGI by 15. Kind of surprising that the armour that the AI's/tribes of Junkyard increases his agility, but the increases are welcome either way. Thankfully, it isn't the Maribel fashion of exposed flesh and groin cup sitting against bare skin, but the Embryon kind with a lovely shade of burnt orange.

2: He can go at least a month without eating someone. Even if the description said 2 months, he should still hunt for atma points at least twice a month, about 2 weeks before his time limit would expire. If he happened to fail his first attempt, then no biggie, just find someone wandering a poorly-lit and narrow alley during the night.

3: His Atma form nulls fire and resists electricity, which is good if he ever has to fight against General Budo, Bols or any opponent that relies on either of the two elements. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to fight Bols. But his resistances don't mean much if the enemy starts force-feeding him a knuckle sandwich.

4: Humans are worth 25 Atma points, coincidentally the same amount of EXP he got from them. Now this doesn't mean that the EXP he gains from defeating a foe will net him the same amount of Atma points.

5: He has something called TP, and chances are, it stands for Teigu Points **(1)**.

And finally there's the last thing he learned from looking at his stats: HE IS _FUCKED_ IF HE HAS TO FIGHT AGAINST ESDEATH! A CORNUCOPIA OF DEATH AND DESPAIR HEADED HIS WAY TO ENSURE HIS ICY DEMISE!... So yeah, he should stay the fuck away from ice users, at least until he's acquired the Ice resist passive skill, but he'd have to get access to the Ice God Mantra, so maybe he should try and unlock Void Ice or something first **(2)**. **  
**

But before he could even start worrying about getting a new Mantra, he has to get control of his Atma, at least to the point of being able to transform in and out of Yaksa with out an issue.

"Maybe there's something in my **[Skills]**." He mumbles as another window appears

 **[Skills:]**

 **Gamer's Mind |?|  
Class: -  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Gamer's Body** **|?|  
** **Class: -  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Observation** **|?|  
Class: -  
** **Active/Passive LV: 1  
** **Exp: 10/100**

 **ID Create** **|?|  
** **Class: - **  
** **Current ID's available:  
** **\- Empty ID**  
Active LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 **ID Escape** **|?|  
** **Class: -  
Active LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 **Zio |?|  
Class: Demon  
Active LV: MAX  
**

 **Void Elec |?|  
Class: Demon  
Active LV: MAX**

 **Agi |?|  
Class: Demon  
Active LV: MAX**

 **Void Fire |?|  
Class: Demon  
Active LV: MAX**

 **Ingest Mana |?|  
Class: Demon  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Devour |?|  
Class: Demon  
Active LV: MAX**

Ok, so checking the skill list was a bust, but at least he now knows what he can do in Demon form. But, now he can access to something that would allow him to practice transforming in private.

"Okay then, **[ID Create]**." Edward watches in amazement as the sky takes a purple tint, and the voices from the birds and other wild animals disappear. Now nothing should be able to disturb his training. Although, maybe the Teigu that minister fat-ass' son had could in theory break into a Illusion Barrier, but he isn't holding his breath on that. Another thing that he noted was that he felt _something_ flowing to his arm as he used the skill. Mana, if he had to guess, kind of interesting to feel this energy resting in his body.

He sits against a tree, trying to remember all he can about the Atma Virus. He knows that it allows you to transform into a demon, which is supposed to be his true self, but honestly, that's debatable, and that form can change, whether from the person changing or by devouring certain demons. But that doesn't matter, since he is the only person with an Atma on this world, hopefully.

Certain Atma brands seem to powers related to them, like the ability to shoot balls of fire from your hand, or generate and channel electricity from your body. Not exactly sure _what_ his Atma brand is, but hopefully, it would grant a special power.

There are two tiers of Atma brands, at least in the novel. High Atma, which is unique to a person and is stronger than a Lesser Atma, which are basically disposable minions. A person will transform into their demon form in the presence of hostility, but he isn't going to try and pick a fight he can't win.

But wait, wasn't there a mantra that would allow you to transform by concentrating on that. But what was it called? Oum many patra ham?

"No, it wasn't that, but I think it's close. Was it **'Om Mani Padme Hum'**?" he tries, doubling over as the Atma brand on his neck starts glowing, lines spreading out of it, accompanied by a burning feeling spreading throughout his body. He grunts in pain as his body mass starts re-arranging itself, feeling his muscle's twist, turn and compress into a athletic shape.

He experiences a small amount of discomfort as the armour he's wearing merges with his skin, some of it transforming into a bone-like material which then starts to cover parts of his body, mostly centered on his upper body, with some of the material covering his hips and thighs.

The material envelopes his head, but surprisingly enough, he can still see, but it's like looking through a visor. Then the material covering his chest extends to cover the lower half of his face, like a bevor **(3)**. He can feel the material covering his spine, forming plates with small blades along its length. As the burning feeling subsides, he takes a look at his new self.

He sees that his skin has turned forest green, a bit grayish on his abdominal area. Looking at his arms, he punches forward, trying to get the armblades working, but the damn things don't work. **"God damn it."** He grumbles, a bit caught off guard by his tone of voice, deeper than his normal human one, and by how flexible the material covering his jaw is, it's like it isn't even there.

After a bit of practice, he manages to get his armblades working. He then proceeds to play a bit with them, retracting and unsheathing them repeatedly. Looking at a nearby tree, he decides to test how well his blades work on something that isn't flesh. He swings his blade at the tree, and it makes a deep gash on the tree.

Retracting his armblade, he decides to test out something else, extending his hand towards the tree. **"Umm, 'Agi'?"** Flames surge from his hand, shrouding it in fire, but surprisingly enough, he doesn't feel the heat that the roaring flames should produce, it's more along the lines of being comfortably warm.

But then again, it shouldn't be that surprising, since his Atma form us immune to fire. Deciding to test out a theory, he swings his arm towards the tree, causing a ball of fire to separate from the fire surrounding his hand, hitting the tree and setting it on fire. Okay, so he can't just do it like it in the game, just using Agi or its stronger forms, and causing the enemy to be immediately set on fire, but he has to actually aim it.

Thankfully, Zio shouldn't be that hard of a spell to use, just do what the Siths do, and point your fingers towards the target and start zapping, what he remembers from last night is true. But there's no harm in making sure that it actually works.

 **"Okay then, 'Zio'."** And as expected, electricity starts leaping off his fingertips, setting more trees on fire. Okay, so his theory was correct.

 **"Heh, tingly."** he notes, looking at his occasionally sparking hand with morbid amusement. Something like this would prove useful fighting against armoured opponents, turning the armour that's meant to protect them into a easy target that attracts his attacks.

Satisfied with his testing, he attempts transforming back. It wouldn't do him any good if he couldn't infiltrate any villages or cities, where there's a lot of people, people who probably wouldn't be missed. Especially in the all you can eat buffet known as the Capital. The only problems would be the local group of revolutionary assassins, the resident hypocrite with a killer dog, and a old man who kills people who are trying to topple the same fat bastard he's fighting.

 **"Hmm, maybe if I focus on it again..."** he mumbles, focusing on the chant that granted access to his Atma form, feeling a smaller amount of discomfort as he returns to his human form.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Atma Transformation has been unlocked.]**

 **Atma Transformation: Harnessing the power of the Atma Virus, a person is able to transform into the manifestation of their true self, a demon.  
Active Skill Effect: {While active, +50% to STR, VIT, DEX and AGI. Skill deactivates when the user is either unconscious or if user's HP drops to 10. Activation Cost: 5 HP&MP. Cooldown: 10 seconds}  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 2  
EXP: 45/200**

Ok, so he got EXP for this skill before he even discovered it, so maybe it gains the same amount of EXP he gains while in Atma form, on top of the 20 EXP he got from using it twice. Now, he should start trying to create some more skills, since the Demon-class skills probably don't work while he's in human form... but then again, what's the harm in testing if he can?

"Let's see if this works, **'Agi'**." Once again, flames shroud his hand, but the flames aren't as bright as they were in his Atma form. So, he could use Demon-class skills in human form, but at a reduced power, so creating his own skill would still be favorable. He should probably start with something simple, like Mana Bolt.

He sits down on the grass, focusing on the feeling he felt running through his body when he used his magic skills. He closes his eyes, imagining the Mana run along his arm, forming into an orb over the palm of his hand. He points his hand towards a nearby tree, ready to test if he can launch it or if he has to throw it.

" **'Mana Bolt'**!" The orb launches from his hand towards the tree, toppling it as it makes contact with the trunk. Looking at the tree, Edward sees that the blast blew away most of the trunk, causing the tree to fall.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Mana Bolt has been created.]**

 **Mana Bolt: A Skill where the user creates an orb of Mana, and launches it towards the target. Range for this skill is 10 meters/32 feet.  
Active Skill Effect:{DMG: 27. DMG increases with INT.}  
Cost: 20 MP  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

"Okay, so the damage dealt is the same as my INT, and seeing how low the MP cost for the skill is, it probably won't change." Edward mumbles to himself. Well, since he's already making skills, why stop at a mere Mana Bolt? But should he just make what Han Jee-Han did, or should he make his own spin? After a while of thinking, he remembers a certain technique from a show he never had the chance to watch, due to his premature passing.

A determined smirk on his face, he creates another **[Mana Bolt]** , but this time, he starts compressing it and shaping it to a more aerodynamic shape. He keeps compressing it, until it's the size and shape of a 9 mm bullet. He looks at his little creation with a smile befitting of a kid who heard that Christmas came early.

Using Mana to carefully move the bullet to the tip of his index finger, he points his hand towards a nearby tree, mimicking a gun with his hand. He then starts adding rotation to the bullet, remembering what terrible accuracy smoothbore **(4)** guns had, sending the bullet tumbling on an unstable course like a drunk bastard walking home from a bar.

" **'Spirit Gun'**!" he dramatically announces, shooting the bullet at a nearby pine tree. The tree didn't even stand a chance as the bullet drilled its way through the pine's trunk, punching a clear hole through it.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Spirit Gun has been created.]**

 **Spirit Gun: A Skill based on the signature attack of Yu Yu Hakusho's Protagonist, where the user creates a bullet made of their energy, and shoots it towards the target. Range for this skill is 25 meters/82 feet.  
Active Skill Effect:{DMG: 81. DMG increases with INT.}  
Cost: 50 MP  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

"Hot damn." Edward can't but whistle in appreciation as he leans against another tree, feeling a bit exhausted from spending so much MP. He'd definitely grind some levels into that bad boy, when he had the MP that is. He probably shouldn't leave his ID until he has at least 75% of his MP back.

"Let's see my Wisdom is 28, so I'll gain 2 MP per minute, and my MP is at..."- he opens his **[Status Window]** -"30/100, perfect." he notes, shutting down his **[Status Window]**.

"Might as well watch the clouds for about 25 minutes." he mumbles walking to a small clearing, he gets into a comfortable position against a tree and watches the different shapes the clouds take.

* * *

 **[A little while later...]**

As he watches the clouds travel through the clear blue sky, he can't help but frown, as he ponders if his current plan of drifting between the villages and eating somebody when the time starts running out is really the best one. He could change a lot of things, like stop Sheele, Bulat, Chelsea, Lubbock, Run and Bols from dying, or even help stopping the war sooner, whether from supplying the Revolutionary Army with info about the capabilities of different Teigu, or just straight up fighting for them.

Although, now that he thinks about it, wasn't the Empire warring with other nations? If so, then wouldn't toppling the empire open the backdoor for other nations to ravage the Empire, enslaving all it's inhabitants, killing numerous people in somewhat justified revenge? The manga never seemed to delve into the situation of other nations, only saying how Esdeath wiped the floor with Western Nations army, and that the Empire had no info on the East.

"I guess that'll be something to look forward to, or look out for more likely." Edward sighs. So it seems like the downfall of the fat bastard and his mountain of corruption won't be the end of all things. So that rules out the idea of being a martyr.

"I wonder if my MP has regenerated enough" He ponders, opening his **[Status Window]**.

 **[Status]**

 **/Human\  
Edward Smith LV: 2  
** **EXP: 25/200**

 **HP: 40{+20}  
MP: 80/100  
TP: 94**

"Ok, that's more than enough, **[ID Escape]**." he says, watching as the Illusion Barrier, or as the webtoon translations call it, Protected Space shatters, revealing that he's at the edge of a small camp, with a carriage, a few tents and a few soldiers loitering about.

As he starts to sneak away from the possibly volatile situation, he stops as he sees a group of men wearing more knight-ish version of the Imperial armour those guys he killed wore, wielding swords, shields and other melee weapons.

One of them steps forward, a broadsword in hand. He seems to be the head honcho of these soldiers, evident by the condition of his armour and weapon.

 **[Observation]**

 ***Captain of the Ex-Prime Minister Chouri's guards*  
/Human\  
Daisuke Oshiro LV: 16**

 **HP: 300{+60}**  
 **MP: 140**  
 **TP: 280**

"I ask that you come with us." Daisuke asks, tightening the grip on his sword, ready to attack in case this intruder doesn't comply. They had spotted this young man appearing out of nowhere, wearing strange armour, and considering the nature of their mission, they couldn't allow a possible assassin to escape.

Edward relaxes a fair bit after reading the title above Daisuke's head. So these guys worked for the old man who wanted to stop the corruption in the empire. "Sure, take me to your leader." Edward complies, following them to the camp.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. I figured that Edward should make a few skills before anything too crucial comes up.**

 **Speaking of which, as some of you may have already noticed, Skills gained from Mantra's are already at the MAX level, while skills that are created can level up. Now, some of you might consider this to be a bad decision, but hear me out. The skills gained from Mantra's aren't all that powerful, at least the ones you learn from 1-star Mantras, dealing about 20-30 as basic damage. And the Mantra-skills can't really be changed or made variations of. I guess an easier way to put it is that Mantra Skills are direct orders, while self-made skills and those learned from skill books are suggestions.**

 **1: Teigu Points, TP for short, are what Teigu and Shingu-Based skills require. TP is calculated by adding all of your stats together, minus any equipment boosts. In order to use a Teigu, or a Imperial Arms if you prefer the dub, a required amount of TP needs to be used, and in some cases, certain Stat requirements are needed.**

 **2: For those of you who haven't played DDS1 or 2, Ice Resist is a passive skill that, if you are weak to Ice skills/Bufu, it nullifies your weakness and makes you strong against Ice skills.**

 **3: a bevor** **is a piece of plate armour designed to protect the neck.**

 **4: A gun that doesn't have a rifled barrel is called a smoothbore gun.**

 **Answers to Quest Reviews:**

 **Quest (12.2.2016): Well, I'm going to go a bit differently when compared to my other stories, and trust me buddy, great things will be in this story's future, I hope at least, ^_^'.**

 **Overlord Susanoo (19.1.2016): Honestly, I'm not too sure. I know that Bulat has to die so Tatsumi can get Incursio, but the question is, do I _want_ that to happen? Maybe, maybe not. And I got to ask, do you have a FF. Net account? Cause I've seen someone with the same name as your quest reviews.**

 **Overlord Susanoo (24.1.2016): I'm not sure if this is the same guy, but here's my answer. I don't know which Night Raid members are going to live or die, so I'm not going to make any promises. And as for letting Seryu live, I don't know, personally speaking I hate her, for being a hypocrite and for killing Sheele, but Edward will eventually be forced to work with the Jaegers, so who knows, maybe he'll see a better side of them, that will make him hesitate killing them. And I do see a lot of potential, especially when Wild Hunt makes their appearance, so I might let her live long enough for that.**

 **Quest (25.1.2016): I'm not seeing anything wrong with the way they use their Teigu's. And besides, I just want to see what you guys think their Atma forms would be.**

 **And here's the question of the chapter: Who do you think I'm going to ship Edward with? The choices are as follows: Akane, Leone, Chelsea, Seryu, Spear, Suzuka, Dorothy and possibly Esdeath. Now you might have noticed that I put a few chicks who're doomed to die, and I chose chicks from both sides of the conflict. And before any of you comment, I like Kurome and Wave together, so I'm not going to ship Ed with Kurome. Also, the outcome of this question won't decide who I'm going to ship with Ed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello everybody! Since I'm having a bit of trouble with T.o.G , mostly with the position training and what stats they should increase, I'm posting a new chapter of this. I might also need someone to help me with researching what's the level of tech that's in Akama Ga Kill world.**

 **I am honestly confused, since I saw a regular mook in it using a machine gun, and I know that the world of Akame Ga Kill has electric** **lights** (Although Budo could be providing the power for that) **and washing machines, along with some of the science equipment Stylish had in his lab,** **yet some of the tech in that world seems older, since from what I remember they don't have fridges, needing to preserve their food with salt.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **"Demon speaking"**

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Digital Devil Saga 1 &2 by Atlus or Akame Ga Kill by Takahiro and Square Enix**(that surprised me a bit) **. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

When Spear Luthor **(1)** and her father started their journey from Snowtown **(2)** towards the Capital, they saw many things, most of them solidifying their resolve to expose the current Prime Minister's corruption, and on the rare occasion, they stopped at peaceful villages that gave them hope.

But neither of them expected the captain of their guards bringing a young man in chains to their camp, especially one in such an odd outfit.

"Captain, why is this young man in chains?" Spear's father, Chouri asks. Although he considered Captain Daisuke a fine man with a righteous heart, he could be a bit...enthusiastic of protecting him.

"They probably thought that I'm an assassin, sent by that bastard Honest to kill you." the shackled young man answers before Captain Daisuke can do so.

"Is this true captain?" Spear asks. The young man in front of them seemed to be the same age as her, so the thought of him being an assassin was... disturbing to say the least, but if the stories that her father told were true, it wasn't without merit.

"Yes, lady Spear. We saw him appear from thin air, so we brought him in for questioning." Captain Daisuke reports, as the young man gains a worried expression on his face.

"Oh, you guys saw that..., shit." the young man curses at the revelation.

"From the thin air you say? Was there a symbol on the spot where he appeared?" Chouri inquires, stroking his beard. Although teleportation is something that one of the Teigu, that the Empire has, is capable of, Shambala's teleportation doesn't allow the user to simply appear from thin air, instead using markers as beacons to teleport from place to place.

Although, he did hear that one previous user was capable of teleporting short distances without the usage of markers, but it was said to be taxing.

"Umm...no?" Captain Daisuke answers hesitantly, unsure of what his lord getting at.

"He's asking whether or not I have Dimensional Formation: Shambala, which I do not." the shackled young man speaks up, knowing what the former Prime Minister meant with his question.

"Tell me young man, what is your name." Chouri asks, interested in how the young man knew about Shambala's ability and who exactly he is. The abilities of Teigu and Shingu are supposed to be well-kept secrets, save for those that are currently in use, such as Incursio, Adramelech and Demon's Extract.

"My name is Edward, Edward Smith, sir." Edward answers respectfully. If he could keep these two alive, Honest could be taken down much sooner, as Chouri could confess Honest's crimes to Budo, who hopefully would then arrest or execute the fat bastard.

But before that could even happen, he would have to convince this group that they could trust him, and prevent them from being killed by the three Beasts.

"Well then Edward, how is it that you knew about Shambala's abilities?" Chouri asks. That name didn't give him much information, aside from Edward not being a high-ranking officer, or a member of the Dark Squad, as he himself read through every file before he was replaced by that monster Honest, as to be able to recognize any assassins that could possibly come to silence him.

"Well, sir it's... complicated and personal to say the least." Edward answers, unsure of how exactly he could explain his knowledge on subjects that a normal civilian or a soldier shouldn't even a clue of.

"We have time. Captain, please release the young man and leave us." Chouri orders, earning a look of confusion from both his daughter and Captain Daisuke.

"My lord, I can't leave you and lady Spear unprotected with a possible assassin." Daisuke protests. Although the former Prime minister was no fool and was very kind, he couldn't in good conscience leave both him, and his daughter alone with an unknown. For all he knew, the young man could attempt to kidnap them both.

"Mr. Oshiro, I can take care of both my father and myself, I assure you." Spear says, stabbing her namesake into the ground. Even if she her weapon turned out to be useless, she still had her Imperial Fist fighting style to rely on.

"Y-Yes m'lady, right away m'lady." Daisuke replies, unlocking Edward from his chains, dashing out of the tent soon after.

"Well, I guess I should explain how I know about Shambala and how I appeared out of thin air?" Edward asks the two, getting nods in reply.

"Okay then. To explain the latter one, it's going to be confusing, and before you say anything, no, it's not a Teigu or a Shingu." Edward says, opening his **[Inventory]** , and equipping his recently pilfered shield, eliciting a pair of surprised looks from Chouri and Spear, although Chouri's was more controlled, limited to a raised eyebrow.

"Mr. Smith, I have to disagree with your statement of not having a Teigu." Spear says, feeling a bit more cautious of Edward, realizing that he necessarily doesn't need to carry a weapon on his person, as he could simply make one appear out of thin air.

"Now hold on Spear, we should let our guest finish." Chouri says, stopping her daughter from doing anything rash.

"Thank you sir. Now, this ability of mine, called **[Gamer]** , allows me to use and create personal pocket dimensions." Edward explains with a half-truth. He should probably ease them into the possibilities of his power, instead of simply showing all the cards in his hand.

"That would explain what Daisuke saw, but even though that does sound similar to Shambala, it isn't all that your power can do is it?" Chouri asks, seeing through Edward's half-truth easily. He didn't earn and keep his position as Prime Minister for 20 years by being nice and agreeing with everyone.

"True, it's not all my power can do, for example, it also heals my injuries when I sleep." When Spear advances towards him, Edward throws his shield up, speaking with a panicked voice. "There's no need to test that right now!"

"I'll believe that you can heal when I see it." Spear says bluntly.

"Well, how about a spar? It would allow me to show more of what **[Gamer]** allows me to do, and you'll get to see if I heal or not." Edward says, attempting to at least get some experience if he has to fight.

Spear looks at her father for permission. "I suppose it would be prudent, but no lethal blows, am I understood?" Chouri says, a dark shadow cast over his eyes.

 **[Story Quest: It's showtime!]**

 **\- Spar with Spear**

 **Rewards:  
** **\- 300 EXP{+1200 if you win}  
\- Increased reputation with Chouri and Spear**

 **Optional:  
\- Showcase a magic skill during the match.**

 **Rewards:  
** **\- 75 EXP per magic skill  
\- Increased reputation With Chouri, Spear and their Bodyguards**

"Yes father, I'm sure that it'll be quick and relatively painless." Spear states with confidence and pride. She had spent countless days training and fighting with a spear, killing Danger Beast's when they happened to get too close to the people. Defeating Edward shouldn't be too hard, even if he had some weird ability.

"Don't be so sure, I got other tricks up my sleeves, metaphorically speaking." Edward cockily replies, planning what skills would be safe to show to earn more EXP. **[Atma Transformation]** was definitely out of question, as he doesn't want to raise too many questions.

Using **[Zio]** would be... risky, as Chouri at the very least knows _of_ Budo, but he might also be a dear friend to him, so using electricity could raise some unfavourable questions. **[Agi]** , **[Mana Bolt]** and **[Spirit Gun]** were the safest of the bunch, as they could be easily explained.

"Now now, save the bravado for the match." Chouri chuckles, amused by the two youngsters actions. It reminded of how he acted with his dear Pyrrha when they first met. He could only hope that his daughter wouldn't meet the same fate as her mother.

"Of course sir/Yes father." Edward and Spear answer respectively.

"Now, I have to go and set up the scene of your match. It'll be at the centre of the camp, I trust you to guide Edward there." Chouri says, leaving the tent.

An awkward silence hangs over the tent. Edward takes this opportunity to look at Spear, discreetly of course. She wore clothes rather similar to what she wore when she would die, only ones more suited to a warmer temperature. Makes sense, as it isn't winter yet. But why did they leave before winter came? From what he remembered, she and Chouri left to capital to expose Honest's _dis-_ honesty and corruption.

So why are they early?

"So...why are you and your father heading towards the Capital?" Edward asks, attempting to break the silence.

"We are heading to the Capital to expose Honest's corruption to the Emperor. Although we were planning to head there during winter." Spear replies.

Edward nods, intent on fishing for more info. "A noble goal if there ever was, but what caused you guys to leave prematurely?" he asks. Although he does have a few theories on what could've caused them to leave early, he isn't so certain about them.

"Well, we heard some reports of odd Danger Beasts popping up around the country, but mostly near the Capital," Spear explains, as a metaphorical cloud of despair mixing with a light of hope starts forming over his head.

"And what makes it suspicious is that people are reported missing before these Danger Beasts appear, and pursue the loved ones of the missing." and now that cloud of Hope and Despair grows even bigger, shining and raining at the same time.

"And you think that one of Honest's mad scientists is making these creatures.'" Edward says, already guessing what the people of this world think. If he is right about his theory, then it's both good and bad, good for him, not so much fro everyone else.

Spear nods in confirmation. "Yes, and my father and I are heading towards the capital to put an end to it." she declares.

"I'm sad to say, but if it's what I think it is, stopping the scientists might not be enough." Edward says, holding his chin in thought. Although he can't tell them about his Atma Virus, that doesn't mean that he can't tell them about it in general, omitting a few truths from the tale.

"What makes you say that?" Spear pointedly asks. These new Danger beasts should logically disappear for good if they put away the doctors who made them, the plans telling how to make them, and mercy-killing the transformed people if a cure couldn't be found.

So what was it that made Mr. Edward think that it wouldn't be enough?

"Actually never mind. I'll save my opinion until I've actually seen them." Edward shakes his head, exiting the tent. No need to get nervous when there isn't enough evidence.

"Hey, wait!" Spear shouts, running after him to lead him to the match site.

* * *

 **Hey, this is just a small pause in the story.**

 **Since I didn't show Spear's or Chouri's Stats, I'm going to show them now.**

 **/Human\  
Spear Luthor LV: 18**

 **HP: 220  
MP: 100  
TP: 138  
**

 **STR: 19** ** **  
**INT: 25  
VIT: 24** ** ** **  
****WIS: 26  
DEX: 21  
AGI: 21**

 **Points: 0**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Expert Spear Handler: You are an expert when it comes to fighting with a spear.  
{+60% to skills that include a Spear. +60 to attacks done with a spear.}  
**

* * *

 ***Ex- Prime Minister*  
/Human\  
Chouri Luthor LV: 21**

 **HP: 210  
MP: 280  
TP: 346  
**

 **STR: 49** ** **{-40}  
** INT: 85  
VIT: 44** ** ** **{-40}  
**** WIS: 76  
DEX: 41{-40}  
AGI: 51{-40}**

 **Points: 0**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Past your prime: You are past the prime of both your youth and your strength.  
{-40 to STR, VIT, DEX and AGI** **. -60% to EXP gains.}  
** **Silver tongue: A little white lie never hurt anyone.  
** **{+70% chance of people falling for your lies.}**

* * *

 **[To the match...]**

"Before we begin, I'd like to ask something of you." Spear says as she and Edward stand at the opposite ends of a ring the soldiers drew into the ground when they heard of the match that would occur.

"Shoot." Edward answers, not seeing any harm in answering a question.

"Why did you request to spar with me? If you wanted to prove your strength, I'm sure that Captain Oshiro would have agreed to a match." Spear asks, catching Edward momentarily off-guard.

"Well, how else am I going to showcase what I can do." Edward shrugs, gathering Mana to his left hand discreetly.

"I see." Spear nods, settling into a combat stance. Edward on the other hand, puts the shield in front of him, keeping his left hand empty, possibly to draw a weapon from his pocket dimension, Spear assumes.

"Combatants ready?" Chouri asks, looking at the two youngsters in the ring. The two nod. "Remember no killing, and begin!" he declares, signalling the match to begin.

"Prepare yourself!" Spear says, darting at Edward, who barely manages to block with his shield. He quickly punches forward, but Spear dodges, alarmed as a blue sphere the size of a baseball bursts out of Edward's fist, hitting the ground with a deft impact, leaving noticeable scorch marks. The soldiers watch in silence, both shocked and intrigued.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Mana Bullet has been created.]**

 **Mana Bullet: A Skill where the user creates a small orb of Mana, and launches it towards the target. Range for this skill is 5 meters/16 feet.  
Active Skill Effect:{DMG: 13. DMG increases with INT.}  
Cost: 10 MP  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

Chouri narrows his eyes, looking at Edward with an analytic gaze, trying to spot anything that resembles a Teigu or a Shingu on the young man's person. Those blasts were similar to those of the Roman Artillery, but they came from his hands, and the coloration was off as well.

Edward can't help but chuckle as Spear looks at the small crater, imagining what would have happened to her if it connected.

"Don't look so shocked, I did warn you." He says, as Spear starts moving faster, causing Edward great difficulty in his attempts at blocking her, gaining a few nicks and scratches from her namesake **[-10 HP]**.

"Okay, that's enough, **'Mana Bolt'**!" Edward launches a bigger ball of mana from his hand, hitting Spear on her body, blasting her backwards **[-54 HP]**. But soon enough, Spear's back on her feet, a bit ruffled, but nothing seems to be broken.

"Huh, so it can't blow up a person at this level, good to know." Edward notes, feeling more comfortable with using it on regular people. Getting an idea, Edward makes a sphere of mana, similar to a **[Mana Bolt]**. Not wanting to find out what he's planning, Spear starts running, zig-zagging to avoid getting hit by whatever Edward is planning.

" **'Mana Gatling'**!" Edward starts shooting baseball-sized spheres of mana from his hand, at a rapid rate, but Spear proves to be fast enough to dodge most of them, a few hitting her head-on **[-84 HP]**.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active skill: Mana Gatling has been created.]**

 **Mana Gatling: A Skill where the user launches numerous orbs of mana from his hand. Range for this skill is 7 meters/23 feet.  
Active Skill Effect:{DMG: 15. DMG increases with INT.}  
Cost: 15 MP, 2 minutes of additional use costs 5 MP  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

"Yeah, didn't expect that did you?" Edward gloats, turning around to see the faces of the soldiers, enjoying the look of shock on their faces. He had already racked up a nice chunk of EXP, so he might as well let the match end.

"This is the end!" Spear declares, closing the gap between the two of them, stabs forward with her spear, making a small cut on his face, before swinging the length of her weapon at the side of Edward's head, knocking him out as he hits the ground **[- 50 HP. Unconscious]**.

"Take him to a medic, and have him check that nothing is broken." Spear orders, two of their bodyguards nod and pick Edward up in a stretcher they prepared just for something like this.

"Well, I guess now we need to just wait." Chouri says, stroking his beard. He'd have some questions for the young man when he would wake up, mostly regarding those attacks he used.

"Father, we might have some important questions to ask from him." Spear says, thinking back to what Edward talked about, and how his facial expression was an odd mixture of hope and despair.

"Yes, indeed." Chouri nods, walking towards the tent where they brought Edward, intent on seeing if he told the truth about his power healing him while he sleeps.

"It's about those new Danger Beasts that have been appearing." Spear clarifies, her father's face turning serious as both of them pick up their pace, eventually reaching the medical tent.

"So, Dr. Haus, how is our patient?" Chouri asks their resident doctor they contracted for their journey, sharply dressed in a white coat over a brown vest.

"Well sir, I don't think we're dealing with a normal person here." he responds, looking at Edward' who's had his Junkyard armour stripped from him, leaving him in his boxers and long-sleeved shirt, as to allow him to breath more easily.

Looking a bit closer, Spear and Chouri both see that the wounds on Edward's face are healing at a rapid rate, and bruises disappearing like they were never there.

"Huh, so he was telling the truth." Spear notes, as her father looks at the self-healing wounds in thought.

The boy could use pocket dimensions similar to Shambala, launch blasts of energy like Pumpkin and heal from wounds like a Biological Teigu. But Pumpkin was with Najenda, who left the army last time he heard, and the boy doesn't look like he has any mechanical additions made to his body.

Just who is that boy?

"Well, disregarding these...oddities, I did find something else that was strange." Haus said, turning Edward's head to the side, pointing at his neck, more specifically, a tattoo on his neck, depicting the grinning skull of a danger beast.

"So, he's a slave..." Chouri mumbles, stroking his beard as he struggles to recognize the brand on Edward's neck, only to come up empty. Although it's possible that a new slavers guild had popped up, he wouldn't make any rash decisions.

"But I don't recognize the mark." He continues, wondering where the mysterious young man could have originated from. Perhaps a foreign nation attempted an experiment that would make a person able to use the abilities of Shingu's and Teigu's? And perhaps these new Danger Beasts emerged from that foreign nation.

"We should station a few guards around the tent, just in case." Chouri orders, his face serious and devoid of humour. Until they've thoroughly interrogated Edward, this would be a necessary procedure to ensure the safety of his guards.

"Understood sir." Haus nods, leaving to get a few guards around the tent.

* * *

 **[The next day...]**

 **[You have rested on a decently comfortable bed. Your HP and MP is fully healed.]**

 **[Quest Completed!]**

 **Rewards:  
** **\- 525 EXP  
\- Increased Reputation with Spear, Chouri and their bodyguards**

"Aw, bloody hell." Edward groans, holding the side of his head in pain. Opening his eyes, he see that he isn't wearing his Junkyard armour anymore. Looking around the tent, he spots a chest that definitely shouldn't exist in this world, one identical to those found in Digital Devil Saga 2, surrounded by numerous tools, ranging from simple lock-picks to drills and swords, hinting that someone had attempted to forcefully open it.

Approaching it, he presses the button on the front of the chest. And with a hiss and a rush of steam, the chest's doors slide back, revealing it's contents. On the top, there's a letter, addressed to Edward. Wanting some answers, he picks up the letter and opens it.

 _Dear Mr. Edward Smith, it has come to our attention that you have contracted the Atma Virus._

 _While we do not know if you are aware of what it means, there is a beginner's guide booklet in the chest that should explain everything._

 _Furthermore, we also included a way for you to purchase new Mantra's and some basic equipment that you will no doubt find useful in your future endeavours._

 _We also left you something to that you use to contact us if you wish to do business with us._

 _We hope to hear from you soon, the Abyss Corporation wishes you the best of fortunes._

Nodding, Edward sets the letter aside and digs through the contents of the chest, finding a semi-automatic rifle, ten 40-round clips, a few potions, the booklet that the letter mentioned, and a tablet with a "AC" logo, with the two letters overlapping.

Tapping the power button on the tablet, Edward watches as the screen glows blue for a while, then fades to a dark grey with the AC logo in orange on the top-right corner.

 **#Welcome to Abyss Corp's website, Mr. Edward Smith.#**

 **#Oh, I see that you have the Gamer. Please hold while this unit connects to it.#**

"Wait, wha-hergrkk!" Edward spams, as a small bolt of electricity shoots from the tablet, hitting him between the eyes. After the bolt of electricity fades away, he massages his temples, trying to ease the slight headache the uplink caused.

 **#Connection established.#**

 **#Now you can access the Abyss Auction and the Mantra shop from your menu, if you can't use the tablet.#**

"Well, that's good. Frickin' asshole tablet could've at least given me a warning." Edward says, putting the contents of the chest into his **[** **Inventory]** , and not a moment too soon, as a guard with a maroon scarf enters the tent.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Human\  
Richard Simmons LV: 14**

 **HP: 220{+60}**  
 **MP: 120**  
 **TP: 220**

"Oh come on! How did you get that chest open? We've been working at it for hours." Richard complains.

"Umm...I just pushed the button." Edward says, not sure how to react to this. Not only is there a treasure chest from another world right next to him, but apparently, it's been there for a while, long enough for some of the guards to try and open it.

"But that's the first thing we tried!" Richard retorts, rushing over to the chest to see what it was holding, only to find it empty.

"Look, would you tell me where my armour is?" Edward asks, already getting irritated by Richard's antics.

"They're over there. It wasn't easy to remove it, but after a while, we figured it out." Richard points at the corner of the tent, where the leather armour is neatly folded.

"When you're done, Mr. Chouri and Lady Spear would like to have a word with you. I'll lead you to their tent." he says, exiting the tent.

Edward nods, stuffing it into his **[Inventory]** , before equipping it. Afterwards, he exits the tent.

"That was fast." Richard notes.

"What can I say, it's easy when you're used to it." Edward smirks, following Richard's lead.

* * *

 **And that's all folks, hope you enjoyed! Also, in other news: WOOOOO, THE BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA ANIME IS FINALLY HERE! But yeah, I hope that you liked the chapter, but feel free to point out flaws in the story if you find any, which you more than likely will, and ask if something was left unclear.**

 **1: There's a reason as to why I made Spear's and Chouri's last names Luthor.**

 **2: Just something random, nothing that'll affect the story.**

 **And here are the stats that Edward has at the end of the chapter:**

 **/Human\  
Edward Smith LV: 4  
** **EXP: 50/400**

 **HP: 60{+20}  
MP: 100  
TP: 94**

 **STR: 9** ** **  
**INT: 27  
VIT: 10{+15}** ** ** **  
****WIS: 28  
DEX: 12{+15}  
AGI: 8{+25}**

 **Points: 9**

 **Mantra: Shura  
Atma points: 125/500**

 **Atma Avatar: Yaksa  
Class: Asura  
{Elemental resistances when in Atma form}**

 **Drain: Fire  
Resist: Elec{-50% Damage taken from Elec skills}  
Weak: Wind and Ice{+50% Damage taken from Wind and Ice skills}**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Atma Virus LV 4: You have been "infected" with an Atma Virus, which allows it's host to gain access to a demonic form called an Atma Avatar, but they need to consume Magnetite, to avoid being over-taken by their hunger.{Access to Demon-class skills. Transform permanently into Atma Avatar and reduce INT and WIS down to 1 if Atma points are not gained in 2 months.}**

* * *

 **Quest reviews answered:**

 **Guest:(3.4.2016): Thank you, I don't think I've seen a straight-up SMT fanfic, although that might be because people seem to favor the Persona series over the basic SMT, which might seem like an over-complicated pokémon game, blasphemy, I know. And as for other SMT fanfics... I am currently watching Familiar of Zero along with a SMT IV walkthrough, and it's giving me some ideas~~!**

 **Super Quest-Chan: Yay, our ship didn't sink!** *High-fives* **And yeah, romance isn't necessary, but I like to think it as the cherry on top. Plus, it can also make Edward's decision between self-survival and moral integrity even harder.**

 **IsseiHater: Oh believe me, Karma-Edward's** (That's what I'm calling this story's Edward) **relationship and interactions with Night Raid members will be complicated and rocky. And as for people dying, the death row will be somewhat different than what it was in the manga, especially if that character had a lot of potential Plot-wise.**

 **If you want to try and guess what'll happen in this story, head to the YMMV section Akame ga Kill's Tvtropes**

 **And here's the question of the Chapter:  
** What do you think about my Douluo Dalu story idea, and which one of my Fanfic ideas You would like to see me tackle?


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello everybody! I'm back on this story. And man, it seems like not a lot of people liked, or even cared about my Kingdom Hearts fic, but that's ok, I'm planning to put the first chapters of other stories to see what you guys like. Also, bad news people, it seem like is once again having problems with showing Reviews, so after I've read your review, I'll PM you.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 **"Demon speaking"**

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Digital Devil Saga 1 &2 by Atlus or Akame Ga Kill by Takahiro and Square Enix**(that surprised me a bit) **. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

"Ah, you're awake." Chouri says, noticing that Edward had entered their tent.

"Yep. And I trust that the showcase was satisfactory?" Edward asks, taking a seat. With the showcase of his abilities, people would get interested in him. Hopefully it's the right kind of people, and not the kind that wants to crack him open and see what makes him tick.

"Putting it mildly, yes." Chouri nods. If Honest caught wind of Edwards abilities, the young man would be strapped to the operating table of that quack Stylish before he even knew what happened. The former Prime minister had heard rumours of what the mad doctor under Honest's employ had done, and he didn't wish anything like that to even the worst of his enemies.

"But, we also discovered something else when Dr. Haus took a look at you." Chouri continues, as Edward's mind leaps to the worst conclusion of what they found. They couldn't have found about his Atma virus, they simply couldn't have, they don't have the tech, and possibly don't even have someone who can transform. But, if it came down to him getting killed, or him killing the entire camp, then so be it.

They were scheduled to perish anyway, the only thing that would be different is that Night Raid wouldn't be framed for the killing. And while it would hamper the process of taking Honest down, it wouldn't stop it.

"And that would be?" Edward asks, his hand slowly going up to his Atma Brand.

"A Slave tattoo on your neck." Chouri clarifies, inadvertently setting Edward's mind at relative ease. So they thought that his Brand was a slave tattoo, which is technically correct if you think about it. But, if they asked something like who was his owner, he could possibly lie about some bastard outside of the Empire's borders being killed by them, and then escaping.

They shouldn't be able to prove otherwise, and if they did, well, he could always go back to the kill and devour plan.

"Oh, that. Well, yeah it's a slave mark, but it's a bit more than that." Edward says, half-lying through his teeth with a straight poker-face. What cover story should he use? Perhaps a mix of the DDS1 story and the Freelancers saga of RvB would fly. Yeah, that should work, it's vague enough and they don't have a reliable way to disprove it.

"Do tell." Chouri says. He guesses that the slave tattoo made them the property of some far-away army that experimented on them, the uniform Edward was wearing implies that he was part of army, the dash of orange possibly serving as a way to differentiate units from one another.

"Well, this brand signifies us as part of an experimental task force, that was shut down, called the Asuras. There were different branches of us, each branch's soldiers going through different experiments." Edward starts telling his lie, careful in avoiding making the story too outlandish.

"The task force was founded when Danger Beasts similar to beings from our folklore started popping up throughout the kingdom. At first, they started out small in number, but soon enough, they started spreading like wildfire."

"Then one of our more _controversial_ religious parties came forward and took the claim for these _Demons_ coming to life, claiming that they were _"cleansing"_ the kingdom in preparations for their Deity's arrival. They also revealed that they kidnapped and transformed civilians into these Demons." Edward adopts a somber look when he says this part.

"Nobody knew how they did it, but the one thing that we did know was the our weapons proved ineffective at dealing with them."

"And when all hope seemed lost, one Dr. Sheffield found a way to give our soldiers a chance at victory." Edward continues explaining.

"Desperate for a solution, our military started taking homeless people off the streets, and recruits who enlisted as test subjects, dividing us into 3 public branches, and exceptional ones from those branches to the fourth one, which was overseen by Dr. Sheffield _personally_."

"There was Cadmus branch, headed by Dr. Hojo, who specialized in genetically engineering normal everyday animals into monsters that were used as frontline fighters against Demons, until the other branches managed to produce results." Edward continues, hoping that Chouri'll buy the lie.

"Sounds like they planned on fighting fire with fire." Chouri notes, thinking of the similarities between these Demons and these genetically engineered monsters. Could Stylish have come in contact with someone who shared Cadmus files with him?

"Yeah, but here's the bad part. Whenever the demons were killed, they would contaminate the environment around them if they weren't killed in a specific way." Edward explains, creating a fact that he can exploit if these new Danger Beasts do turn out to be Demons.

"Contaminate how exactly?" Chouri asks, wanting to know more of these possible runaway experiments attacking the people he worked so hard to protect. He wasn't about to leave them to the wolves, whether the wolves were Honest or these "Demons"

"They release a virus that has a chance of mutating its host into one of them, if the host comes under a lot of emotional pressure." Edward says, enjoying how easily Chouri is buying his lies, it's like taking a candy from a baby.

"My god..." Chouri whispers to himself, realization hitting him like a cannon.

"But there's a chance that these aren't Demons, just a new breed of Danger Beasts." Edward says, giving the old man some hope, personally hoping that they are.

"Then there's the Hero branch, headed by Dr. Xavier. Their goal was giving people superpowers, while staying human in appearance, and were trained to appeal to the public as heroes." Edward continues.

"Let me guess, Propaganda?" Chouri asks, familiar with the need for having people who could appeal to the public. General Budo was one such figure in his youth, his faith and loyalty to the empire drawing in a lot of new recruits.

"Bingo. Then there's the branch which experimented on me, Gaia, headed by Dr. Lilith. Their aim was similar to that of the Hero branch, but instead of messing around with human DNA, they used Magic to grant us powers based on what our soul judged to be a power suited to our personality." Edward says, wondering if he should stop here, and completely omit the Atma Virus.

"This sounds rather similar to the creation of Teigus." Chouri says, especially intrigued at Edward's mention of Magic. He had heard the stories of how the creation of Teigu and Shingu involved Magic, which did explain the mystical abilities that they possessed, and the thought of another nation having access to magicians was... disturbing to say the least.

"Yeah, some of the mystics at Gaia said the same thing." Edward sheepishly says, scratching the back of his head. He probably should tell a censored and edited version of the events of Digital Devil Saga 1, so that if he ever had to transform into Yaksha, people wouldn't be caught by surprise and come at him with torches and pitchforks.

"But after I got Gamer, they found out that one of it's effects was that my mind was always stable. So, they transferred me to the secret fourth branch, called Asura." Edward says, starting the key part of his tale.

"Their purpose was in a way, all of the other branches fused into one, and a bit of what the enemy was doing, only instead of turning us into mindless monsters, the experiments gave us the ability to transform into a being from folklore that we corresponded to, they called it an Atma transformation." He continues.

"So, they figured that fighting fire with fire was the best option." Chouri solemnly says. What good did winning accomplish if you sunk to such lows that you would need to transform your citizens, the very people who rely on you, into abominations of nature.

"Sadly, yes, and at first, it seemed to be working. We were winning, the enemy was retreating." Edward says with a somewhat cheery expression, hamming it up.

"Of course, during the early stages, some of us couldn't cope with the pressure, and succumbed to the demons personality, and it overwhelmed them, driving them berserk." Edward sighs, pretending to be sad about the lives that were lost. Nothing like a remorseful hero to get on peoples good side.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Spear says, having entered the room just in time to hear Edward's "explanation" of the Asura branch.

"Yeah, we lost some good people, most of them being bums who were forcibly enlisted." Edward says with a faked sad smile on his lips.

"They enlisted the homeless?" Spear says with a confused expression. She couldn't see any good reason to enlist homeless people into a war, neither from a moral or military standpoint. What good could homeless people do in a war, aside from spying and...

"Oh god. T-They used them f-for..." Spear whimpers as she realizes what those homeless people were used for.

"Making sure that the operation works, and after that, they were thrown against the enemy." Edward says, feeling slightly bad for possibly giving Spear nightmares.

"How did they justify these sacrifices." Chouri asks, promising himself that if he ever met the people behind these experiments, he'd throw them into jail for the rest of their lives, throwing away the key for good.

"They said that we shouldn't let their sacrifices go to waste, and keep fighting." Edward says with a disgusted face, but unlike what Chouri and Spear might think, he isn't disgusted by the actions of his "superiors", but with what he's doing. Lying to people who're just trying to save their country from tearing itself to pieces, by essentially making up a tragedy, a whole civil war, all just to hide that he has to eat people once every 2 months.

 _'Don't get soft now. You're saving them by lying to them.'_

Yeah, if he can just get them to take a different route, or get strong enough, they won't perish when Honest sends the Three Beasts.

"Later on, we managed to finally capture the guy who was leading the crazy cult, who told us who exactly gave them the recipe for making their Demons."

"Who was it?" Spear asks, wanting to know what kind of depraved human being would do something like that.

"Who else, but the very man who came to us at our hour of need with a solution that just _happened_ to be oh so similar to what our enemy was using, Dr. Sheffield."

"Hm, seems about right." Chouri nods. He did feel like the timing was a bit too perfect, coming to the military just as they were losing hope.

"After amassing our forces, we confronted the _"good doctor"_ , asking why did he do all this. He simply started laughing like a maniac, saying how all of it was to create a weapon that would surpass the Teigu, and how he would take over the world."

"And while he was in the middle of his monologue, we simply shot him." Edward shrugs

"But, as Sheffield was bleeding on the floor, he said that we had no idea of what was coming. And he was right, as the information of the experiments got leaked to the public, and a witch-hunt targeting everyone who was involved with the Asura project, whether they were test subjects, doctors or janitors. They simply burned them down to ashes at the stake."

"And soon enough, all of Mikado was stuck in a civil war, between us, the Asura test subjects, who were fighting for our survival, and the rest of Mikado, who saw us as unnatural abominations, who should be wiped off from the face of the earth."

"It didn't help that the symptoms became more and more common, keeping the flames of hate fueled and roaring. I guess my Gamer saved me from the symptoms." Edward finishes his not-so-little lie, feeling slightly sick of himself.

* * *

 **[Through a specific action, the Passive skill: Silver Tongue has been created.]**

 **Silver Tongue: Lies are a powerful tool, especially in a hostile environment. Thankfully, you seem quite skilled in the art of lying, but you are still a mere bud.  
Passive Skill Effect: {+10% chance of people believing you, when you lie to them.}  
Class: -  
Active Skill LV: 1  
EXP: 0/100**

And now he's feeling even more sick with himself. Now the Gamer is rewarding him for being an utter bastard. At least he can make up for this later, whether by safely getting Chouri to someone who can actually do something about Honest, or by eating the corrupt people in charge.

"So, why did you come to the Empire?" Chouri asks, feeling that something about Edward's story doesn't add up. Wouldn't it make more sense if he had stayed back in Mikado and attempt to rebuild it?

"Well, aside from Mikado being incapable of supporting life, One of my squad members, who was lucky enough to get a demon form with a limited clairvoyance ability told me that he saw this land facing the same virus that tore our country apart, before being turned to rubble by something called a Shikoutazer." Edward says, remembering the monstrous armour from the anime.

While the manga had only reached Chapter 67 before his untimely death, it did seem like that monstrosity does exist in the Manga-verse as well.

"The Shikoutazer! My god no..." Chouri gasps in shock at the thought of that _thing_ being used within the Empire's borders. He had only seen that behemoth once with Emperor Minato **(1)** and Empress Mitsuru **(1)** , and that thing still gave him nightmares on occasions, especially when one of the people working on it gave an estimation of what it could do if it fired while in the Empire.

The alchemists and engineers had theorized that even one shot of the Shikoutazer's chest cannon could wipe out a village, leaving behind only a smoking crater.

"Um, excuse me, _what_ is this Shikoutazer exactly?" Spear asks, looking at her father's frightened face. From how they spoke, it seems like this Shikoutazer is bad news, very bad news.

"Simply put, a giant armour capable of shooting better versions of my Mana Bolt, ones that turn whole towns into smoking craters." Edward explains, allowing Spear to catch up.

She doesn't say anything, but the horror-struck look on her face tells more than enough.

"Then we must make haste to the Capital! We must expose Honest before he has a chance of using it." Spear exclaims.

"Honest can't activate it, only those of the first Emperor's bloodline can activate it." Chouri says. But even so, considering how tight the that Honest has strings on Emperor Makoto are, he may as well be the one who controls it.

"Even if we leave now, it wouldn't be a good idea. Honest probably knows that you people can bring him down, so he'll probably send people to kill you." Edward says, making a slicing motion across his neck.

"Hmm... yes, you do have a point. But what are we supposed to do? We must take Honest down as soon as possible." Chouri mumbles, pondering on what would be the best course of action.

"Well, I do have a plan, but I'll need to see the map, and know where these new Danger Beasts have been reported." Edward says, a plan that'll not only keep Spear and Chouri remotely safe, but also allow him to grind some levels before they hit the Capital.

Spear hands him a map."There has been numerous sightings, but the locations with confirmed sightings are here, here, here and here." she reports, pointing to towns that are quite near the Capital. Perfect.

"Ok, good. Why don't we visit each of these locations, see if the sightings are demons, kill them, and then move on, slowly making our way to the Capital." Edward suggests, dragging his finger from one confirmed spot to the other, finally dragging it to the capital.

"Hmm, seems plausible, but wouldn't this give Honest more time to send assassins?" Chouri asks, looking at the map. While making visiting these villages and wiping out a possible threat to his people would warm this old man's heart, he fears that it would give Honest too many opportunities to not only send assassins to halt their journey, but also corrupt the young Emperor even further.

"If we don't move on too quickly, it won't seem like we're making a quick detour before coming to ruin his plans, instead it'll look like we're simply going out and keeping people safe from monsters, nothing that would imply that we're plotting anything." Edward explains, planning his grinding schedule.

During the night, he'll grind levels to his ID's, and after gaining one with monsters, he'll start grinding Exp instead. If he's lucky, the monsters in ID's give Atma Points, but he won't hold his breath on that.

"I see, that does sound like it'll work." Chouri says, stroking his beard. Ideally, it should keep Honest of their back.

"And when we get close enough to the capital, we could have our group split up into two groups, both groups will make their way towards the capital." Edward suggests, earning a pointed look from Spear, and a questioning one from Chouri.

"Mr. Edward, I hope you're not suggesting that we use the soldier under our employ as bait, while we scurry into the Capital like rats." Spear says, stomping over to him. Although she did have Military training and while Edward's suggestion did make sense from a military perspective, using good people as mere decoys didn't sit right with her.

"I'm not suggesting it, I'm simply considering our options." Edward says defensively. It was in all honesty, a sound plan, and if those men were as loyal as they seemed to be, they would agree with the plan.

"Spear, go consult Captain Daisuke about the changes to our journey." Chouri orders, wanting to consult Edward about something about his backstory that troubled the former Prime minister, and he didn't want his daughter to be there in case things went south.

After Spear left the tent, Chouri rounds on Edward. "Edward, if you don't mind, I have a few questions about the story you told." Edward flinches, thinking that Chouri didn't buy his story, but plays it cool, not wanting to jump to conclusions.

"Uh, sure, what questions do you want to ask?" Edward asks casually, feeling a bead of sweat running down his face. Hopefully the old man hadn't seen through his lie, which wouldn't surprise him all that much. No way that old man earned his position by being a kind man, but by being ruthless, just perfect for politics.

"About this prophecy that your dying friend told you, did Spear and I appear in it?" Chouri asks, deciding to start off with a remotely simple question that shouldn't make the young man think that his story wasn't believed.

"To be frank with you sir, you and your daughter..." Edward contemplates whether or not he should tell Chouri that both him and his daughter will die at the hands of the Three beasts. On one hand, it would show that he wants them to survive. But on other hand, the fact that he didn't tell them about it at first could reveal that he has ulterior motives.

"...perished at the hands of Esdeath's Three beasts, and then they framed Night Raid for the killings." Edward settles on telling the truth, as lying wouldn't bring anything but trouble.

"I see, thank you." Chouri says, feeling like that there's more that Edward is hiding from him. But he'll save his question for later, as it curiosity that killed the cat after all. And apparently, both him and his daughter would have perished if they made a straight run for the Capital, so perhaps it would be prudent to send out a small envoy ahead of them.

"I didn't tell you at first, because I don't think you would've believed me. It might still happen, so don't drop your guard." Edward adds, wanting to show that he means well.

"I'll keep that in mind. But, I don't think we have much to fear with an ex-task force member with us." Chouri chuckles lightheartedly.

"Don't give me too much credit. I was just a rookie who blasted enemies from the distance." Edward repudiates, chuckling awkwardly. Maybe he should have gone with a more believable cover story, like his Atma transformation being an ingested Teigu, like Esdeaths.

"Is that so? Does the being you transform into aid your sharpshooting?" Chouri asks, exploiting an opening left by Edward.

"Umm, I'm not sure, I didn't use my Atma all that much, only if the enemy got too close."Edward answers, technically telling the truth. The first and only combat situation where he used Yaksha was when he was surrounded by people he considered as enemies.

"Then you must've been quite effective with a gun." Chouri chuckles, exiting the tent. Edward sighs, wondering how the hell is he going to get through this. Not only is he following a group that's doomed to perish, but now he's made himself out to be some sort of a special forces soldier. And he highly doubts his chances at survival when the Three beasts come for Chouri's head.

But if he does survive that group, what then? Let's assume that everything went without a hitch, and he managed to escort Chouri to the capital without an issue, and they go tattle to Budo, or someone else who can and actually _wants_ to do something to stop this corruption, what'll probably happen is an open civil war with the people who want to save this country, and those who're happy with the current status-quo.

And in the event that Chouri does die, but Edward and Spear manage to escape death, then he should get Spear to someone who'll protect her, most likely Night Raid or the Revolution. Then they'll probably ask him to join them, which honestly, doesn't sound bad, as _i_ _f_ these new Danger Beasts do turn out to be Demons, then he doesn't need to worry about Atma points.

But he shouldn't get his hopes up on that, as failure would drive him further into despair.

The worst situation would be that both Spear and Chouri are dead, and he's captured, tortured before being put on a leash or turned into one of Stylish's fetish-clad lab experiments.

A step-up from that situation would be infiltrating Jaegers, possibly through the tournament, all he'd need to do in order to catch Esdeath's attention is do a innocent smile, which might be the hardest part of the plan, and then either persuade some of them to leave, or he'll just assassinate them during missions, finishing the sloppy job that Chelsea did on Kurome, for example.

Honestly, don't assume someone's dead before you've detached their head from their body, and even then, do a double-tap on the head and heart.

And yes, that might break Wave's, Akame's and even a little bit of his own heart, but looking at the big picture, he thinks that he can live with that.

Oh, and if that last scenario does come to be, he also should stop Seryu from going after Mine and Tatsumi, if only to see how she'll react to Wild Hunt and their actions, and if she doesn't listen, then kill that Rakshasha Demon chick that told Honest's son that Tatsumi is with Night Raid.

In a calm situation, Edward might've cared about how casually he is thinking and plotting the murder of some truly good people, but as he considers those thoughts, the part of him that wants to survive shoves those thoughts aside, telling him that in this world, you're either trampled on, or you trample on others.

"I'm going to hell when I die, I just know it." Edward sighs, exiting the tent.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks, hope you enjoyed! I hope that you won't think too badly of Edward lying to Spear and Chouri. I mean, would _you_ , or rather _could_ you even trust someone who has to eat people in order to survive, and as a side-effect, also gets stronger from it?  
**

 **1: These are the names of Emperor Makoto's parents that I have come up with. Please don't mistake these as me shipping Minato and Mitsuru of Persona, these are just the names that popped up in my mind, and seemed like they fit.**

 **I don't think that I need to post Edward's status, since he didn't fight or train in this chapter.**

 **Quest reviews of Chapter 3 answered:**

 **Super Guest-Chan(22.4.2016): Thank you  
**

 **And here's the question of the chapter:  
** What do you guys say about a Gamer-Atma-SI being put into Tokyo Ghoul? It's something that me and Angel of light darkness came up with. The Atma Avatar of that S-I would be different than this Edward's


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